those schoolgirl days
by hopelessromantic0707
Summary: "Hey." Elena's attempt at chipper falls far short of the mark and both girls spring to their feet in concern. Pre-series. Elena, Caroline, Bonnie.


Title: those schoolgirl days of telling tales and biting nails (are gone)

Rating: G

Disclaimer: The Vampire Diaries does not belong to me.

Summary: "Hey." Elena's attempt at chipper falls far short of the mark and both girls spring to their feet in concern. Pre-series.

Author's Note: For the lovely vie_dangerouse, who requested fluffy Caroline, Elena & Bonnie; prompt: 'pillow fight'.

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><p>When Elena walks into her bedroom after she and Grayson return from the ER (three stitches, a minor concussion and a seemingly endless lecture on the pitfalls of underage drinking just a few souvenirs of the evening), all she wants to do is collapse on her floor, forget the disaster the last few hours have been.<p>

The last thing she expects to see is Caroline sprawled haphazardly across her duvet devouring the latest issue of Teen Vogue with lightning speed, Bonnie staring off into space beside her.

"Hey." Elena's attempt at chipper falls far short of the mark and both girls spring to their feet in concern.

"Oh God, Elena! We were so worried! Your mom told us to go home, get some coffee, sleep it off, _something_, but I couldn't do it. I mean, what if there was brain damage? Stuff like that happens, you know." The blonde curls framing Caroline's face (her hair is still in its updo, despite the MFHS Cheer sweats and long-sleeved tee that have replaced her blue strapless dress) sway slightly as she speaks, barely remembering to take a breath between words.

"Caroline." Elena grips her friend by the shoulders, looks her in the eye. "I'll be good as new tomorrow. Cross my heart." There's no way she's revealing the extent of her head injury; Caroline would probably have a full-on panic attack.

Bonnie crosses the room then, pulling Elena into a hug. "Glad you're ok, E." There's a slight quiver in her voice and Elena tightens her arms around the other girl, hoping to reassure her.

"I'm fine, Bonnie. Really."

They stay like that for a minute, until Caroline clears her throat. "So. Waffle House?"

Elena turns toward the blonde, eyes wide in disbelief. "I'm grounded, Caroline. I can't go anywhere."

"It's called sneaking out. Geez. Live a little."

After a beat, the melody of 'Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee' floats into the air, Caroline humming the first few bars. She's cut off before the end of the opening verse, though, a pillow hitting her square in the face. As she tumbles off the bed, Elena smiles, shrugs, sits in the vacant spot she's left.

Caroline grabs a throw pillow off the windowseat, spins to retaliate, only to connect with the pillow Elena holds in front of her face, a makeshift shield.

"You want to do this?" Caroline asks, trying to make her voice as menacing as possible. The illusion is fleeting, though, a spurt of laughter punctuating the question.

"Oh, it's on." Elena leaps off the bed, movements lithe and fluid. Caroline braces herself for the impact, squeezing her eyes shut. Bonnie's gasp of shock (and the fact that her face isn't stinging) sparks her curiousity and she opens her eyes to find Bonnie picking feathers out of her hair. Elena shrugs innocently. "She has to be in on this, too."

Caroline and Bonnie exchange glances, nod, come at Elena from opposite sides.

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><p>When everything is said and done, Elena's room vaguely resembles a war zone. Feathers cover every available surface, furniture is moved in odd positions, and her Beanie Baby collection (that hasn't been touched in years) is strewn across the carpet. The little suckers have excellent range when used as projectiles.<p>

The girls lay shoulder to shoulder amid the carnage they've created, spent from their efforts at sabotage.

"We should clean this up," Bonnie murmurs, lifting her head and sweeping her hand to indicate the mess.

"I've got a better idea." Elena gets to her feet slowly, extends her hands to Bonnie and Caroline. They follow her to the living room, wait while she digs a DVD out of the cabinet.

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><p>"You wait, little girl, on an empty stage, for fate to turn the light on. Your life, little girl, is an empty page that men will want to write on. To...write...on."<p>

Three voices meld together, singing along with the song in a whisper.

Watching _The Sound of Music _has been a 'momentous occasion' ritual for them since the first day of kindergarten and it's never going to change.

"Josh Schwartz totally stole our thunder," Caroline hisses into the darkness. "Marissa Cooper doesn't have anything on us."

Elena laughs, wishing, however futilely, that this moment would last forever.


End file.
